THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with TRAFFIC!  Live in Santa Monica, circa 1972, flagged by my online pal Jay. Your setlist includes: Low Spark of High Heeled Boys; Light Up or Leave Me Alone; John Barley corn; Rainmaker; Glad; Freedom Rider; Forty Thousand Headmen; and Dear Mr. Fantasy.

JASON ISBELL plays KEXP, including a cover of R.E.M.'s "Driver 8."

QUEEN + PAUL RODGERS, Live in Ukraine circa 2008.

SKYWAY MAN covers The Faces and more for a Lagniappe Session. 

KURT VILE shares "Mount Airy Hill (Way Gone)."

SNAIL MAIL covers Smashing Pumpkins' "Tonight, Tonight."

DESTROYER: A Timeless Rock Icon?

WOLF ALICE's Ellie Rowsell on the Band's Origins, Feeling Romantic and Being on Tour.

OF MONTREAL's early years, essayed at Bandcamp.

BRUTALLY HONEST OSCAR BALLOT Number Two.

VARIETY's final Oscars predictions.

THE OSCARS should move to Netflix.

NETFLIX's Marilyn Monroe biopic officially has an NC-17 rating.

MEN has a trailer online.

KEANU REEVES' movies have reportedly been scrubbed from China streaming platforms following the actor’s public support for Tibet earlier this year. (Thx, Jay.)

RENEE ZELLEWEGER lets down her guard, sort of.

THE BATMAN dropped a deleted scene featuring you-know-who.

ANNA TAYLOR-JOY, on Romance, Raving & Rebellion.

THE REAL MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: Saying "No" to Tom Cruise.

THE AGE OF CAGE: How Hollywood's most singular actor stepped into the role of blockbuster hero in the 90s.  He's also getting the best reviews of his career playing himself.

GOATS don't believe in gravity.

A BOY, HIS DOG, and a puddle.

HOW TO PET a Porcupine.

JIMMY WEBB, one of America's master songwriters, plays "Elvis and Me" on Steve Dahl's 1991 NYE PPV event.

POM PON SQUAD plays a Tiny Desk Concert for SXSW.

YARD ACT plays a Tiny Desk Concert for SXSW.

BAUHAUS returns with "Drink The New Wine."

LYKKE LI returns with "No Hotel."

ZOLA JESUS returns with "Lost."

DEVO will donate all licensing revenue from their back catalog made throughout the month of April to assist relief efforts in Ukraine.

EAGLES OF DEATH METAL's Tuesday Cross has woken up after being in a coma since January.

THE NUMBER ONES looks at Bryan Adams' final chart-topper, the wretched faux-Spanish soundtrack ballad "Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman."

BRUTALLY HONEST OSCAR BALLOT NO. 1: A THR tradition!

THE OFFER, about making The Godfather, has a trailer online.

STEVEN SPIELBERG cited the hit Netflix Korean drama Squid Game as a game changer for the industry.

HUGH GRANT denies that he's in talks for Doctor Who.

OSCAR ISSAC talks "Moon Knight."

SALLY FIELD talks Oscars, COVID, "The Flying Nun," and more.

THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS was the last film to sweep the "big Five" Oscars.

NETFLIX's upcoming crackdown on password sharing could be worth 1.6 Billion dollahs.

WHAT DOGS Dream About.

GREAT WHITE SHARKS May Befriend Each Other in Hopes of Getting a Larger Meal.

MAN & DOG Diving Team.

FAITH NO MORE: "We Care A Lot."

ALL SONGS CONSIDERED features Arcade Fire, Valerie June, The Smile, Andrew Bird, and more.

PUNCH BROTHERS visit World Cafe.

DAVID BYRNE & MIKE MYERS join ARCADE FIRE at the Bowery Ballroom.

SHEARWATER returns with "Xenarthran."

PHOEBE BRIDGERS & BRIGHT EYES cover Elliott Smith's "St. Ides Heaven."

TED LEO shares "The Clearing of the Land."

SOFT CELL & PET SHOP BOYS team up for "Purple Zone."

WOLF ALICE's Ellie Roswell discusses what it’s like to hit the road again, how she feels about receiving so many accolades, and her theories about why her band inspires such fervent fandom.

KID ROCK says Donald Trump sought his advice on North Korea and Islamic State.

NICOLAS CAGE paid his debts with VOD movies but stressed that he never took on a role he didn’t believe in — even if the role was helping him avoid bankruptcy.

AMANDA BYNES spoke out after her conservatorship ended.

OPPENHEIMER: Sources say that with Christopher Nolan’s secretive process, actors sometimes don’t even know what role they are signing up for until the deal is done.

MISSING MOVIES: A new organization hopes to save movies from disappearing in the streaming era.

THE GODFATHER's restoration team talks about the painstaking procedure of making these films look better than they ever have before, but not crossing any lines where we lose the cinematic look.

THE OSCARS: West Side Story and Dune are the only Best Picture nominees that a majority of Americans have heard of.

RACHEL ZEGLER, formerly uninvited to the show, will present at the Oscars.

THE ACADEMY MUSEUM OF MOTION PICTURES drew criticism for overlooking the contributions of the Jewish immigrants who helped found Hollywood. Now it will try to rectify that.

DOGS & CATS, living together...

THE MRS. CAME HOME EARLY and there's hell to pay.

ABLE TO LEAP driveways in a single bound!

ALT-J plays The Current.

BILLY STRINGS visits World Cafe.

WARPAINT shares "Champion."

BECK plans to re-record early hits "Loser" and "Where It's At."

DOLLY PARTON will star in a movie adaptation of her novel with author James Patterson.

CIRCLE JERKS: Four decades later, they're still running wild in the streets.

THE NUMBER ONES looks at Montell Jordan's eternal party anthem "This Is How We Do It."

KYLIE JENNER and Travis Scott revealed that their son is no longer named Wolf.

AMANDA BYNES is probably less than 24 hours from the end of her conservatorship.

CHRISTINA RICCI is returning to Wednesday.

SUPERNATURAL is getting a prequel.

SIXTEEN CANDLES is becoming a series starring Selena Gomez, and Molly Ringwald's happy about it.

WEST SIDE STORY's Rachel Zegler is not invited to the Oscars.

THE RISE AND FALL of the Erotic Thriller.

SAMUEL L. JACKSON got to Sesame Street, mofo.

A TINY HORSE who loves the camera surprises her owner one day by herding all the sheep.

WILD ALTERCATION: Two pigs fought off a black bear in Connecticut that hopped over their enclosure and began attacking. 

A CAT waits for the cartoons to be turned on.

PARTNERS in Crime.

A DOGGO, walking its owner.

THE LEFT BANKE: "Walk Away Renee."

NEW RELEASES: BrooklynVegan will point you to Charli XCX, Oso Oso, and more.

BILL'S INDIE BASEMENT has Midlake, Pictish Trail, Young Guv and more.

WEEZER is streaming SZNZ: Spring.

ANDY SCHAUF shares "Jacob Rose."

WILL BUTLER a founding member of Arcade Fire and brother of frontman Win Butler, has announced his departure from the band.

THE NUMBER ONES looks at Madonna's longest-reigning chart-topper, the soft and tasteful Babyface collaboration "Take A Bow."

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: The Batman threepeats atop the chart with 36.8MM on a leggy 45 percent drop as it crosses the 300MM mark.  Jujutsu Kaisen 0 placed with a 17.7MM debut. Uncharted showed with 8MM on a 13 percent drop.

THE WRITERS GUILD AWARDS went to these folks. Congrats!

KANYE WEST has been barred from performing at the Grammys this year.

GREAT SCOTT!  Christopher Lloyd has joined the cast of Star Wars spin-off series The Mandalorian.

BILL MURRAY: "We are afraid to die and afraid to kill."

LIGHTYEAR will feature a same-sex kiss.

THE 25 GREATEST TIME-TRAVEL MOVIES, according to Vulture.

THE 20 BEST SITCOMS of the 1990s, according to Paste.

THE 50 BEST SLASHER MOVIES, according to Paste.

AMAZON: You Have (Part of) MGM's Library. Let People Watch It.

A DOGGO retrieves a ball from a pond for his best buddies.

STEPAN THE CAT escapes to France from shelling of Kharkiv.

MURDER HORNETS invading US could be stopped with bizarre ‘sex spray.'

PSYCHEDELIC TOADS are in demand.

A DOG WASH, but the other way.